Dyngjujökull Magma Intrusion Keeps Lengthening

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Dyngjujökull Magma Intrusion Keeps Lengthening

Intense seismic activity and GPS measurements around Bárðarbunga volcano indicate that the magma intrusion in Dyngjujökull outlet glacier keeps lengthening, now stretching almost all the way to the glacier’s edge.

The strong earthquakes that have occurred in the southern part of the Bárðarbunga caldera are believed to be related pressure changes in the magma chamber below, ruv.is reports.

Seismic activity below Dyngjujökull has been increasing this morning, mostly around the glacier’s edge where the magma intrusion is forming. Scientists believe this is an indication of magma breaking its way to the northeast.

“People assume that magma is flowing into the dike, which is stretching all the way north to Dyngjujökull, more than 25 kilometers. This is an adjustment [in the magma chamber] because of the great volume of magma which has flowed out of it,” Icelandic Met Office specialist Gunnar B. Guðmundsson explained.